Lorgnette



l. MANDEVILLE.

LORGNETTE. APPLICATION mm m mzr. 1922.

INVENTOR ATTv NEY.

a. IRVING MANDEVILLE, NEWARK, NEW ERSEY.

are?

LORGNETTE- Application filed January 27,1922. Serial-Nor 532,082.

To all 10 ham it may concern Be it known that I, IRVING MANDEVILIaa, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Newark, county of Essex, and State of New Jersey, have invented certaln new and useful Improvements in Lorgnettes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved lorgnette which is of the type that has a short handle somewhat in the form of a finger-piece, although it can also be in the form of the long-handled type, the shorthandled form, however, being more easily operated.

The invention comprises a pair of lens frames which are adapted to be nested 1n parallel relation and side by side, and which swing apart so that they are extended to be held in front of the eyes, such extension being due to the influence of a spring. The handle acts as a'catch to hold the frames together or in their folded position, and one lens frame is released when the lorgnette, while grasped by means of the handle, is flipped or snapped sidewise, the temporary movement of the frames to. one side releasing one lens so that it swings to extended position.

The invention isillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a lorgnette made according to my invention. Figure 2 is a section through the catch, drawn on an enlarged scale, and Figure 3 is a perspective View of the latch swung slightly apart from the lens frame that it engages.

The lens frames 10 and 11 are hinged together, usually through the medium of the bridge 12 which has spring hinges 13, and 14: to normally swing the frames apart, as shown in dotted outline in Figure 1. So far as now described the device is old and there are many types and designs of such springextended lorgnettes now in use.

The invention resides in such lorgnettes equipped with the catch releasable without necessitating the manipulation of a fingerpiece or slide. The illustration shows a ban dle 15 hinged at 16 to one frame, as 10, and mounted so that it has a limited swinging movement transversely to the plane of the frame. The handle is yieldingly held in normal position by the spring 17 in the hinge and has a latch 18 extending beyond the hinge. The catch or handle is held at a slight distance from the lens frame 10 so specification of Letters Patent. P tnt d" w1 9,'-1922,.,

that the lens frame 11 can be slid under it, and is limited in its swinging movement as by the lug 19.

On the lens frame 11 is an element to en-' gage the catch, and a convenient and inconsplcuous form of engaging element can be provided by enlarging the frame slightly to form a nose 20. The parts are disposed so that the lens frames, when locked, are in alignment and closely folded side by side, as

shown in Figure 1.

When the lorgnette is to be extended, the

handle. is firmly grasped and given a jerk.

or flip sharp enough to swing the assembled lens frames on the hinge 16. This movement temporarily overcomes the influence of the springl? and the latch 18 is tripped and releases the nose 20, and the 'lens frame 11 snaps to its extended position before the frame 10 resumes its normal position on the handle 15. It is a quick movement of all the parts,,is substantially noiseless and no other manipulation than above described is necessary. 1 r 1 Of course it will be evident that the device can be operated by holding the handle in one hand and swinging the lens frames laterally until the frame 11 is released, but this method of operation requires two hands and it is therefore usually operated by the single movement while grasping only the handle.

Modifications in designs and in the proportionof the parts can beincorporated,

without departing from the scope of the invention.

I claim: 1. A lorgnette comprising a pair of lens frames connected so that they can be ex tended and also assembled in parallel relation, and a handle hinged to one frame, the handle including a catch disposed so that it releases the other frame when the assembled frames are swung on thehandle.

2; A lorgnette comprising a p-airof lens frames connected sothat one swings on the other, a handle secured to one frame and mounted thereon so that it canswing out of I its normal position, and a catch on the handle to lock the other frame when the handle is in its normal position.

3. A lorgnette comprising'a pair of lens frames connected so that one swings on the other, and a handle hinged to one frame and yieldingly held in normal position and including a catchdisposed so' as to engage the other frame to lock it when in normal position and to release it when the handle is looking position, the handle being mounted swung. so as to swing laterally relative to the plane 10 4. A lorgnette comprising a pair of lens of movement of the swinging frame.

frames connected so that one swings on the In testimony that I claim the foregoing,

other, a handle hinged to the outer edge of I have hereto set my hand, this 25th day of one frame and having a catch apart to en- January, 1922.

gage the outer edge of the other frame, and

a spring to yieldingly hold the handle in its IRVING MANDEVILLE. 

